Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: 3 - 1 = 2 :0(

[kendra]

Hi there. My name is Kendra. I made a snap decision about 4 months ago to get a turtle. But after some research, I found out that I probably didnt have the right daily schedule to care for one, I teach math at a charter school in Boston and am out of my apartment from 6am-8pm Monday-Friday. My boyfriend thought it would be a really nice idea to get me two hatchling red ear sliders for my birthday last month. They arrived on Wednesday (10/5) with what was supposed to be an "everything you need to raise healthy turtles" set-up and one extra turtle. So we had three turtles each under 2 inches long in a small plastic aquarium with a 7-watt light bulb and a floating island not big enough for two at a time. I am so angry at the people who sold him the babies and the set-up. $300 later at Petco, we have a 20 gallon tank with a filter and a Reptisun 5.0 UVB lamp, a submersible heater, a turtle dock, and a basking lamp. None of them will eat (Sal just started yesterday with Reptomin floating food stick and had a little more today). And Atlas seemed to not ever open his eyes and also to float lopsidedly. I decided to take them to the vet this morning. When I got up to get them ready to travel Atlas was dead under the turtle dock, floating sideways. And Sal and Peter Venkman are both not looking so good. Again I am angry at the website for selling him the turtles, especially because it is apparently illegal, and now I am just trying to do the best that I can.

The exotics vet at Angell animal hositpal said that she is not optimistic about Sal and Venkman but I really hopr they pull through. They apparently have a fungal infection (which we were treating them with sulpha dip for) that may be causing their respiratory symptoms (Venkman can dive but when he is at that surface he seems to dip a little to the right and Sal is lethargic and basks a lot). She gave me some anti-fungal solution to feed them orally, but I can't get them to open their mouths. She suggested using an index card to gently pry, but we tried that for about 15 minutes with no success. If anyone has any tricks for getting a turtle to open its mouth I would appreciate it. I will try in the general care section also.

Thank you.

[missibsu]

Welcome! Sorry that your first post had to be a sad one. Unfortunately a lot of the turtles that are purchased from websites, or small flea market stands, just don't survive. Hatchlings have a higher death rate as it is, but many of these are already sick when they are purchased. Good luck with the other two! I'm glad that they have seen a vet.

[CountryGirl68]

Hello and welcome. Sorry about Atlas. But, like Missi, I'm glad you took the initative to take them to a herp vet.

To feed the oral meds, I read in another post that you can try a popsicle stick (my vet used something similar but it was a "vet" stick). Gently try to pry the mouth by putting the stick towards the side of the mouth. That might help.

Hope your babies get better!

[kendra]

Thank you for your replies. I am sorry that I asked a care question in the introduction thread. I did a search after I posted earlier and found the popsicle stick suggestion. I will try that when I administer the meds tomorrow.

One other thing I am concerned about is that the vet I saw did not have high hopes for this treatment, and she said that this anti-fungal (Diflucan) can lead to kidney problems. But we have to do something, so this was their best estimate of what to do.

I am glad that I got some of my emotion out earlier by posting, but I am still frustrated about not being able to get clear information about my little guys and what I should do for them so they dont get worse.

Thank you for your support. I dont know anyone else in the city who has turtles, so I really appreciate having people to talk to.

[CountryGirl68]

You may want to do daily water changes to help with healing. Water quality can make things worse. Even though your tank may be clean, the fungus is living in the tank as well as the turtle. Keeping his water clean might be beneficial and turn things around for your turtle.

[kendra]

Thank you for the advice. We are doing a daily water change and trying to gently pry without any luck. It is hard to keep myself away from the tank and everything they do convinces me that they are not going to make it through the night. I need to give them some space and stop obsessing.

Peter started eating!!! The tuna fish water is such a great idea. I posted a different feeding question in the general care (about when to feed and how much), any other advice that you guys have would be great.

Again thanks for your help.

[kendra]

Sal passed away yesterday morning. :0(

[CountryGirl68]

Sorry to hear about Sal.

[SpotsMama]

I'm so sorry to hear about Sal. I hope Peter is doing better - I'll keep him in my thoughts.